Feed for pisciculture

ABSTRACT

Feeds for pisciculture are enriched with isobutylidene diurea.

United States Patent [1 1 Akasaki et al.

[ Dec. 30, 1975 I FEED FOR PISCICULTURE [75] Inventors: Masato Akasaki, Miyazaki; Hiroshi Takashima; Kazuhiro Shibata, both of Tokyo, all of Japan [73] Assignee: Mitsubishi Chemical Industries,

Ltd., Tokyo, Japan [22] Filed: Oct. 31, 1973 [21] App]. N0.: 411,198

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Nov. 9, 1972 Japan 47-112774 52 U.S.Cl ..424/322;424/180 51 A61K 27/00 [58] Field of Search ..424/322 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,302,927 11/1942 Whitmoyer et al. 424/180 OTHER PUBLICATIONS Chem. Abstr., Vol. 74, (1971), 30883k.

Primary ExaminerFrederick E. Waddell Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Oblon, Fisher, Spivak, McClelland & Maier 57 ABSTRACT Feeds for pisciculture are enriched with isobutylidene diurea.

8 Claims, No Drawings FEED FOR PISCIQ LTURE 1 BAC-KQROUND .oF THE INVENTION. 1 i I 1'. Field ofthe invehiidfi I I I I This invention" 's to-a feed additive for'piscicult e; v .5 I 2. Dcs cript ionof'the"Priorflkrt' j; f f Recently, the heavy demand 'for anirnal feeds has increased because of the-increase in various animal populationsv and because/of the variety of foods demanded. The limitatiorisof the available food sources has created various difficulties for the multiplication and culture of fowl, ddmestic. animals and fish. Problems in the multiplication and culture of fish (pisciculture) are especially critical because water conditioning has been diffieult and because not many suitable feeds are available for fish a slcompared. with the availability of feed. For example, conventional feeds for pisciculture have included a raw mashed fish feed prepared by kneading mashed fish, and a meal mixture consisting of aprotein so"urc't :su'chas powderedfish, whale meat, "or thelike and othel'inutritious components such as carbohydrates, oil-l and fat,="vitamins and-the like-However, these eonvehtionaPf'eed's have not been suitable nutrient sources from the viewpoint of the proliferation and culturing of fishfesp'ecially piscic ulture. I

A need, therefore continues to exist for a suitable feed for fish which promotes the proliferation and culturing f fish. I I

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide a feed additive for pisciculture or the promotion of the gr'owt h'of fish. I j

Briefly, this objectand other objects of the invention as hereinafter will become more readily apparent can be attained by providing feeds for the culturing of fish lant.

which contain isobutylidene diurea as a growth .stimu DESCRIPTION'OF THE PREFERRED EMEQDIMENTS percent by weightper weight of fish i.e., lg of isobutylidene diurea per one kilogram of fish, in a day.

These dosage levels are critical because dosage. levels in excess of theupper limit injures the digestive organs of the fishl Ifthe dosage level,.is too .low,.the desired effects can not be achieved. lsobutyl idene diureacan be fed to fish as is without admixture with other feeds. However, the isobutylidene diurea is preferably made a part of a composite feed prepared by mixing isobutylidene diurea with natural or artificial feeds.

The feed substrates to which isobutylidene diurea can be added include animal feeds such as fish meal, raw fish feed, corn, wheat flour bran and a source of saccharose such as rice bran. It is especially desirable to mix isobutylidene diurea with fish meal, in addition to other additives such as vitamins, carbohydrates, oil and fats, to form the composite feed.

The quantity ofisobutylidene diurea in the composite feed usually-ranges-from l- 20% by weight, preferably 3 .l 0% by-yv'eight. The feed base for the composite feed preferably contains 20 90% by weight protein, 1 1 0% by weight fat and oil, 0 90% by weight carbohydrate and 0- 3% by weight vitamins.

Thefeed of the invention for pisciculture can be fed to fish as a powder or in some other suitable ,shape by simply adding the feed to the pisciculture :medium. Feed pellets can be prepared by adding a binder to the feed ingredients, then kneading and pelletizing the feed as pellets having a diameter of 0.5 5 mm and a length of 3 10 mm. The composite piscieulture feed can be administered to various fishsuch as eels, yellow tail, carp, salmon, trout, ayu, erucian, puffer, sea breams, catfish and the lik e,.The feed is especially effective for fishwhieh normally inhabit temperate zones such as eels, yellow tail, carp,sea breamand catfish, especially, carp, sea bream and. catfi sh. z

; Upon the use of feeds, for pisciculture containing the additive pf theinvention, the growth of fish is remarkably. promoted and the weight increase of fish administeredthe feed .is significantly greater than the weight increase of fish, grown in conventional pisciculture media. The reason for this is not completely clear. However, it is believed that isobutylidene diurea promotes substantial conversion of the feed into protein while it simultaneously promotes the absorption of nutrients into the digestive organs of fish. Moreover, the residual amounts of isobutylidene diurea which remain in the feeding zones after the fish have been removed promote the growth and proliferation of alga and plankton in the culture zone so that a suitable water environment for fish can be provided.

Having generally described the invention, a further understanding can be obtained by reference to certain specific Examples which are provided herein for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to be limiting in any manner. The percentages shown in the Examples-are percentages by weight.

A commercial powdery meal for frying carp containing 40% protein,.3.% fat and oil, 3% fibrin and 12% ash, (manufactured by Taiyo Gyogyo Co.) was admixed with 5% and 10% portions of isobutylidene diurea based on the total weight of the mixture. The powdery meal mixture was admixed with a small amount of locust bean gum and water, and the resulting mixture was pelletized to form pellets having a diameter of 2 3 mm and a length of 3 10 mm. As a reference composition, the same pellets were prepared without the admixture of isobutylidene diurea. Forty frying carp having a weight of 35 g were fed with thepelletizing feed for days in a concretepond having a size of l m X l m X 2 m. The pelletized feed was administered at 8 -9 oeloek and at 12 1 oclock every day in such a manner that nofeed remained. The weight increase of the fying carp was measured and the results are shown in Table I.

TABLE [-continued Pelletized Term dose average feeding feed (days) (-60 weight efficiency days) increase *1 (g) (kg) 10% isobutylidene 0-30 1305 0.82 0.628 diurea containing 31-60 3227 2.53 0.784 feed total 4532 3.35 0.739 No isobutylidene 0-30 1373 0.90 0.655 diurea containing 31-60 3245 1.92 0.592 feed total 4618 2.82 0.61 1

'1 Note feeding efficiency average weight increase per 1 kg of feed.

EXAMPLE 2 A commercial powdery pisciculture meal containing 35% protein, 3% fat and oil, fibrin, 13% ash and a small amount of vitamins (manufactured by Nissin Seifun Co.) was admixed with 5% and portions of isobutylidene diurea based on the total weight of the mixture. The mixture was pelletized in accordance with the procedure of Example 1 to prepare a pelletized feed. Two hundred frying sea bream were fed for 47 days with the feed, and the weight increase of the frying Twenty catfish were fed for 60 days with the feed of Example 2 and the weight increase of the catfish was measured and the results are shown in Table 111.

TABLE Ill Feed lsobutylidene diurea Average weight (g) 42.1 39.7 38.6 initial Average weight (g) 73.8 74.9 62.3 after pisciculture Total dose (g) 981 990 1021 Average weight (g) 31.7 35.2 23.7 increase Feeding efficiency 0.645 0.710 0.464

EXAMPLE 4 A commercial powdery meal for eels containing 47% protein, 10% ash, 5% fat and oil and 5% starch was admixed with 5% isobutylidene diurea and a small amount of water and pellets were formed having a diameter of 2.5 mm. Three hundred ten eels were fed with the pelletized feed for 230 days in a concrete pond having a size of 2m 4m X 0.75m at 20 23C. As a reference experiment, the same pellets were prepared except that they contained no isobutylidene diurea. The weight increase of eels was measured and the results are shown in Table IV.

Having now fully described the invention, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that many changes and modifications can be made thereto without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as set forth herein.

What is claimed as new and intended to be covered by Letters Patent is:

1. In a method for feeding catfish for the promotion of growth thereof in a pisciculture, the improvement which compirses: admixing 120% by weight of isobutylidene diurea into the feed, and feeding an effective growth promoting amount of the feed to said catfish.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said feed is a composite of protein, carbohydrate, fat and oil nutrients.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the feed contains vitamins.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the feed contains 20 by weight protein, 1 l0 by weight fat and oil, 0 90% by weight carbohydrate and 0 3 by weight vitamins.

5. In a method for feeding eels for the promotion of growth thereof in a pisiculture, the improvement which comprises: admixing l 20% by weight of isobutylidene diurea into the feed, and feeding an effective growth-promoting amount of the feed to said eels.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein said feed is a composite of protein, carbohydrate, fat and oil nutrients.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the feed contains vitamins.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the feed contains 20 90% by weight protein, 1 10% by weight fat and oil, 0 90% by weight carbohydrate, and 0 3% by weight vitamins. 

1. IN A METHOD FOR FEEDING CATFISH FOR THE PROMOTION OF GROWTH THEREOF IN A PISCICULTURE, THE IMPROVEMENT WHICH COMPRISES: ADMIXING 1-20% BY WEIGHT OF ISOBUTLIDENE DIUREA INTO THE FEED, AND FEEDING AN EFFECTIVE GROWTH PROMOTING AMOUNT OF THE FEED TO SAID CATFISH.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein said feed is a composite of protein, carbohydrate, fat and oil nutrients.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the feed contains vitamins.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the feed contains 20 - 90% by weight protein, 1 - 10 % by weight fat and oil, 0 - 90% by weight carbohydrate and 0 - 3 % by weight vitamins.
 5. In a method for feeding eels for the promotion of growth thereof in a pisiculture, the improvement which comprises: admixing 1 - 20% by weight of isobutylidene diurea into the feed, and feeding an effective growth-promoting amount of the feed to said eels.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein said feed is a composite of protein, carbohydrate, fat and oil nutrients.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the feed contains vitamins.
 8. The Method of claim 5, wherein the feed contains 20 - 90% by weight protein, 1 - 10% by weight fat and oil, 0 - 90% by weight carbohydrate, and 0 - 3% by weight vitamins. 